Stormbreakers
by Kalessin
Summary: What starts out as a foray into the scientific world ends up getting a pair of friends into something far deeper. Complications ensue. Rated T just in case... a noncanon, Saitroesque fic.
1. For the Birds

**Mandatory Disclaimer: **All species and things that are found in the show and games are © Nintendo. This is not meant to infringe on anything, and I give credit where it is due.  
All characters and original concepts I've added are mine.

A/N: Speech is, as you may have noted, annotated differently. Common, or humanspeak, as the pokémon call it, is represented by quotations. The dex-translated chirrups, bells, squeaks, whistles and whatnot of the pokémon's language are represented in -text-. Telepathy, though you may not encounter it, or have not yet, is in _- italics and dashes -_. 

Though this is my first fanfic, I am basing this greatly after my experiences roleplaying in Saitro, my little pet site. I hope you enjoy this - there is more coming. Sorry there isn't more at the moment, but it will come. I also apologise that it hasn't picked up; it will, trust me. 

R&R, and enjoy! 

Pages in MS Word: 8   
Words: 2636   
Inside jokes: 3   
Actually written on August 29, 2005 

(Yes, some of the researcher names are from Saitro... J-san put Spiegel in here a while back. I decided to leave it in here, though I thought it was presumptuous of him.) 

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****

Chapter 1: For the Birds

_ Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.  
--Charlotte Bronte _

Annie sighed, readjusting her pack on her back and continuing on. At her side the nidorina Nasa padded, glancing furtively at the surrounding forest.

Birdsong filtered down through the trees, though none of it was what she was listening for. It occurred to her that she had never even seen a blackbeaked spearow, let alone heard one, though she hoped that she would know one when she saw it, or heard it. She knew what a spearow generally looked like; the stubby wings, the coloration, the social habits that they seemed to all have in common, but then again traits from species to species, such as the white rhyhorn to the common rhyhorn, were known to vary. The harsh, grating cry of a spearow was distinctive, however, and it was what she was looking for.

They had been in Darkvale Forest for over four hours now, running on the hope that the rumors she had heard had fruit. The pair had been so thrilled to get the assignment: to search for a once-thought-extinct pokemon and report their findings. They might become famous someday, joining the ranks of legends such as Professor Oak, Elm, Spiegel, Reins, de Carniru, Snowden…

Now it seemed that they were on a wild abra chase, likely to never find anything. "If there was anything to begin with," Annie muttered, causing the nidorina to glance up at her momentarily before returning her attention on the gametrail before her.

Nasa snorted in a great sigh at the ganths clustering about them, causing a few to drift away for a moment. The cloud of small insects seemed to grow exponentially by the hour, and the buzz in Annie's ears was beginning to grow seriously annoying. She could only imagine how Nasa, with her more sensitive hearing, was taking it.

The forest was a true forest, such as Annie had only dreamed of. After a few hours, however, she had an entirely different view of nature: from giant trees and mist-covered moss underfoot, stantlers and other deer padding along, an ursaring poised at a stream, flipping magikarps and feebas out of the water with flicks of its powerful paw to a wet, crowded jungle of thorns, thistles, saplings and trees so thick that you could barely move. She followed the gametrails, though she constantly had to fend off offending branches and brambles from her face. She was pretty sure that she would have a rash soon to add to her growing collection of scrapes and bruises from the poison ivy and gimblevine that flourished here. She had tried at first slashing at a tangle of growth with her knife with very limited success, and eventually realized that were she to get anywhere she would have to just find her way around. The last thing she wanted to do was make something mad.

Now, however, she couldn't care, and just wanted out of this infernal place. Once more she consulted her 'dex, looking up spearow and then the varying subspecies, listening once more to the cry.

Would she recognize it, though, from a distance? Some things carried over a long ways, while other tones did not, and distance could completely change the sound of a call. It never occurred to her that pokemon would be so spread out and that finding them could be so time-consuming. Sure, there were always things here and there: a ratree spiraling up a tree, a pidgey or common _Passer Sylvansis _, or forest spearow. On occasion one even saw a _Vulpes Igniscauta _, the common vulpix, or a _Fulgaritus Cuniculus _, a pikachu.

But what use did they really provide her? Knowing what _Solenopsis Invicta _was didn't help her here. She thought she knew so much, but in the end, all her work, all her studies, seemed to come to nothing. When it came to surviving, she was just as clueless as the next technophilic city-girl with visions of grandeur.

She continued on through the one big bramble that was the forest, finally stopping altogether. "You know what? This is insane. I don't know where I am, what I'm looking for, or how to get out of this thrice-damned place." She bodily shoved through another one of the omnipresent clumps of foliage, stumbled over a root, and fell face-down into the half-decomposed plant matter that coated the ground. She cursed, trying to rise to her feet. As she placed her hands on the ground to give herself leverage, she cried out, yanking back her left hand, watching as drops of red welled from her palm.

-Annie?- Nasa asked, ears tilted forward in concern. -Are you alright?-

"A thorned root. Why beneath the stars is there a thorned root?" Annie growled, rising with the use of her uninjured hand. "Oh, man," she moaned, inspecting it closely. "Got me good, too."

She fought her way a little farther, then sighed. "Nass, could you see if there's a clearing or something around here? I wanna see to this…"

-Can do,- the nidorina chirruped, bounding off into the foliage.

Annie watched her with envy. How could she navigate so easily through this stuff? It made her wonder how on earth the larger creatures, such as, say, a venusaur managed. It seemed impossible to her now. Yeesh, she could barely manage and she was small for a human!

Although, she reminded herself, venusaurs and their kin _were _grass-elemental pokemon. Alright then, how did an ursaring manage? Surely the forest became more navigable sooner or later? Or had she gotten the wrong place?

Whatever it was, she was not enjoying herself.

A rustle brought her back to the present: Nasa had returned bearing news. -The trees get bigger after a while. That cuts down on foliage. Don't worry, after a while longer we can find a place to set up camp.-

So it _DID _change! "Thank the gods," she replied, setting forward with renewed hope. "And thanks, Nasa."

-Anytime,- the reply came, a click-chir-ret in Annie's ears and bearing meaning (thanks to the dex) in her mind.

They continued on, Annie pressing on through tangles and losing her footing once or twice. The latter was when she stepped into a hole, and she instantly set to pulling her foot back out. There was no telling what lived in holes, and she, for one, did not fancy a bite from a pythea or a young arbok. Nothing happened, of course, save a pulled ankle, which was more a nuisance than anything. It wasn't sprained, broken or in any way really hurt, and she went on again, this time practicing more caution.

Annie was expecting a gradual change, where the forest spread out slowly and quietly. Thus it came to her as quite a surprise when all of a sudden she was standing in a real forest, what she would expect. Trees reached high, branching to create a canopy overhead. She saw a glimpse of something – a fourfooted, blackfurred shape, but then it was gone. The ground was uneven, sloping up and down at seemingly random intervals, then dipping low and reappearing some ways away. The sound of running water grew closer, and Annie had a sneaking suspicion that the stream she heard was where the land dipped away in front of her. There was no mist, but then again, what did she expect?

The birdcalls had been added to, a call she did not readily recognize had joined the mix. It was pretty, in a melodic sequence downscaling in thirds, then rising again in three notes to repeat the sequence. This was not a speech-pattern, then, but a call of some sort, perhaps a warning, or an invitation. Perhaps a mating call. Who knew.

She sat down on the ground, unslung her pack and started rooting through it. Her hand by now had three little red streaks across it, something she rolled her eyes at when she saw. She finally located the medkit and started to take out the alcohol when she suddenly rose and went to inspect the streambank.

Even if it was a clear stream, though, it was probably steep. _Stop second-guessing yourself, _she berated herself silently, looking at the wound. _It ought to get washed. Ick, I don't like deep wounds… well, at least it doesn't hurt. Much, _she corrected quickly.

Nasa watched her silently, her crimson-tinged eyes flicking around constantly on the lookout. She did not know this area like she had known her home woods. This was larger, and housed much larger denizens. So far they had been lucky, but there were plenty who would not hesitate to pester or attack them. This she knew from experience – Yart had told her plenty of horror stories. Her human counterpart seemed even more clueless than she, a fact she did not find entirely reassuring.

She shook her head, rising to her hind legs as she glanced around them for what must be hundredth time. Still nothing. She was being paranoid. _Better paranoid than dead, _she thought, sniffing the air. She preferred this greatly to the stale, stifling scent of the city, the soft, sylvan feel of the air, the feeling of _life _all around her, not stone or concrete that blocked the sky and the light of the sun. She listened idly to the birdchatter - nothing particularly interesting at the moment, though it was reassuring that they felt safe to gossip and chat and socialize. When danger came the birds grew quiet...

Annie slid down the grassy bank, landing on a rock that stretched out over the water. It was clear, running swiftly across rocks and forming little continual ripples in the stream. Annie fancied it surging forward merrily to wherever it was that it seemed so eager to get to.

"I'm glad one of us knows where we're going," she sighed, placing her hand palm-up on the slick rocks below, letting the water surge over it. She held it there for a while, then pulled it back out, feeling fairly numb from the wist down, and picked her way back up the bank and to her pack. Now she took the alcohol and poured a little on, then capped it and put away. She took some tressa leaves from the supply in her herb-pouch, crushed it on the rock and pressed it to the wound, wrapping it with some bandages. That ought to do it. She didn't want to break into her supply of potions and whatnot just yet - no telling what they might come across. Waste not, want not.

"Alright, think that just about does it," she sighed, rising to her feet after repacking her bag. "So what now?"

- - -

In the end, they decided that continuing on would be pointless at this stage and that this was as good a place as any to set up camp. Annie finished staking in her tent, the fire she had made burning brightly. Nasa watched it, partially hypnotized by the blinding flare of the leaping flames, her mind far away.

Annie came over to join her, taking out some dried meat from her pack and handing over a piece. Nasa reared to her hind legs, taking the offering delicately between her claws and taking a bite. She sat back, chewing thoughtfully. -Annie?-

"Mm?" the girl asked, glancing to the nidorina. "What is it?"

-It occurred to me that we ought to find some way to stash the food, preferably where no one will bother it.-

"Yeah, probably," Annie replied. "I got rope, you know."

-Aipoms.-

"Okay then... maybe we could... bury it?"

-A thought. I was thinking rather to see if it won't go in the spare balls you've got. Like those item balls you were so intent on acquiring.-

"Oh! No, that hadn't occurred to me... that's where I'm keeping the rope and the rest of...the...food..."

-But they don't align like pokeballs do, right? And somehow I get the feeling that there aren't that many People out there who would fancy a nice juicy meal of rope.-

"Yeah... point taken," Annie laughed, joined by Nasa's twittering chuckle.

They continued eating, talking and joking for a while. Annie then took out her 'dex, logging the day's activities. She was highly tempted to add in some unprofessional sentences about the forest in general, but in the end aborted it each time before she even started. She had enough people who thought her immature already - no need to lose more supporters.

She finished, then paused, rereading it and correcting a few parts. _Obsess over anything, you will _, she thought wryly, finally deciding that it was as done as it was going to get. Before she could submit, however, the pokedex intuitively did it for her, archiving a copy in case she wanted to access it later.

"Okay then," she said, shaking her head. "Oi. Really creeps me out when you do that. What if I hadn't finished?"

The screen did not answer.

"Serves me right, getting one of those 'cool intelligent pokedexes'. Aiyaiyai." She flipped it closed to protect the LCD screen - at least, that was what she thought it was - and put it safely away. Then she got to rearranging what was where, shifting foodstuffs into the storage balls and resorting to muttered threats when it refused to believe it could take it. "Oh come on! Stupid thing!" She tried again. This time it accepted a little more... and regurgitated what she had already given it to hold.

When finally everything that could be called food had been stashed away, she placed the balls in the pack, took off her shoes, and went into the tent. She took off her shirt, changing into a nightshirt and shorts. The tent was small, and she had to do everything in a rather uncomfortable crouch, but there were worse things. This was waterproof, and there was enough room for her and Nasa and their spare equipment, so she really couldn't complain. Besides, she couldn't carry anything much larger in an item ball - already it required three (which now contained their breakfast.)

Nasa remained outside, watching the banked fire glowing faintly. Unseen critchets chirped, insects buzzed, a lone hoothoot hooted softly in the distance. She hesitated when Annie invited her to join her in the confines of the tent, weighing her options carefully before replying. -I'd rather stay out here, if it's all right with you... besides, I can keep anything from bothering you. Really, I don't mind...- she churred gently, her horn form a dark shadow in the twilight.

"You sure."

Nasa jerked her head upwards once, allowing it to come back down slowly in the nida-version of a nod. Annie sighed, retreating into the tent.

Getting comfortable was another story. She had no sleeping bag, a fact she was really beginning to regret as she tossed and turned. Something was digging into her back and it was beginning to really annoy her. She arched her back outward, lying on her side, and managed to curl around it, but her back was uphill. She rearranged everything so she was lying downhill, her back lower then her head or legs, but ended up rolling over into the side of the tent. In the end she chose this as the most endurable, though she sorely missed her bed and down pillows...

She sighed, watching the light fade, though it was darker inside the navy tent than it was outside. Was it only yesterday that they had arrived here? Maybe, if she asked really nicely, would Skyva consider bringing her a sleeping bag?

She knew she'd never ask, though. It was her fault entirely, and she would just have to make do. _Besides, it builds character, _she could hear her father saying.

She hadn't seen him in years...


	2. What did you expect?

**Written:** September 2, 2005 

**Disclaimer**: All species and things that are found in the show and games are © Nintendo. This is not meant to infringe on anything, and I give credit where it is due. All characters and original concepts © Michiko. 

A/N: What, did you expect something momentous to happen? And in case you wondering, Bagons is the equivalent of Lemmings. 

Words: 3620  
Pages: 13  
Total Words: 6256  
Total Pages: 21 In-jokes in this chapter: 

- - -

****

2: What did you expect?

_"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. "  
-- Jean de La Fontaine_

Annie never remembered falling asleep, only waking up to the constant chatter of the birds, talking and spreading news, gossip and just chatting, and, more importantly, the insistent prod of Nasa's head against her back.

"Go away," she mumbled, giving the tent an answering thump.

-Up! Day is come, Annie - the sun is up and you should be too! Now come out!-

There was no arguing with her. "Lemme get dressed first, at least."

Annie lay there for a while longer, trying to convince her stiff body that it was time to move and failing. The longer she debated the more likely she was to never get up, she realized, and with a groan struggled to sit up. Gravity from the slope and her own inertia worked against her, making the simple act suddenly very difficult.

Nasa poked her again, and she groaned. "I'm working on it!"

-Work faster, then! Or would you rather no berries at breakfast?-

"Berries?" The fog in Annie's mind had yet to clear, and she only halfway processed Nasa's words. "What berries?"

-Just get out here,- Nasa sighed, sounding exasperated.

Annie sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning. She pulled off her shirt and changed it for a clean one, continuing to undress and redress in a half-crouching, half-sitting position. Outside Nasa paced impatiently, and darted a little ways away when the tent flap finally opened and Annie blearily stumbled out.

"Alright, what berries?"

- - -

-Is the fire _really _necessary?- Nasa asked, poking at the edge of the circle of stones that Annie had made the day before.

"Don't do that. And I worked hard on this!" Annie protested, oddly protective of her little fire. Nasa watched her try to revitalize it with no success. "Well, it's still warm... that's a start, right?"

-I think it's amazing you were able to get a fire at all yesterday.-

"Shut up!" the girl yelled, blowing at what she hoped was a still-lit coal and getting a face full of ashes. "Akpth!"

-You just scooped ashes over it, didn't you.-

"Isn't that how you do it?" Annie asked, trying still to find some spark of life from the ashes and failing. She picked up a stick and began poking at it hopefully.

Nasa's ears twitched in a shrug. -Beats me. I never bothered with fire.-

"Of course _you _didn't..."

The nidorina whirled. -And what do you mean by that?-

"Nothing," Annie said hurriedly, still poking at the ashes with her stick. " Great. It really did die on me. Crap."

-You humans are so odd,- Nasa observed. -All of your curses involve bodily functions. And you _want _to start a forest fire?-

"No, and that's not true. There's damn," Annie protested. "It's true!" she added at Nasa's derisive snort, though she wasn't sure which one the nidorina was challenging. Couldn't be the swear word one... she'd proved that one, right?

-All right, then. Most,- Nasa conceded, pointedly aiming the conversation. -Bar one, the four-letter ones are bodily functions. What's so bad about feces and mating?-

"Nevermind."

-Odd creatures indeed,- the nidorina repeated, scratching herself with a clawed hind foot.

"Look, are you gonna help or what?"

-I did,- Nasa pointed out. -I found berries. You can't say I did nothing. And you're the one who cares about most of what you do. I think that berries are fine and that making fire will not enhance the eating experience.-

"I did the tent, too," the human pointed out. "You did nilch for that."

-Bah.- Nasa flicked her ear a a fly. -Geegaws and twingle. Twolegger makings. You can mess with it all you want, but I claim no part. What's wrong with a nice, good rock? Maybe some moss--

Annie took the bait. "You always steal my pillow back at the Institute!"

They returned to the old, familiar argument with relish. By now it had borne so many repetitions that it was as if both Nasa and Annie were reciting a scripted banter, but it had lost none of the fun of playing it out. The great Inside VS Outside debate raged on as the two ate, Annie returning now and then to her attempts of resurrecting the fire. She finally gave up, not wanting to waste more matches than she already had, and put the depleted box away.

-I just had a thought,- Nasa said, rising to her feet. -Why not ask around? Y'know, see if anyone's seen a spearow with a black beak.-

"Now that's a thought," Annie replied thoughtfully. "It just might work... but you might get more help if I wasn't around."

Nasa made a few demurring noises, but couldn't really argue with Annie's statement. -But what about you?-

"I'll stay here. I doubt anyone's going to just walk up and pick fights - that's not usually how normal people behave, is it?"

Nasa shook her head. -No, but remember the Cursed Ones, changed by Cybele knows what and stripped of speech. They would. And they have,- she added after a pause. -Need I remind you of the Kanto incident? Of Johto? _You _remember Johto. I remember Johto,- Nasa finished with a delicate little shiver.

"I _come _from Johto," Annie reminded her softly. "And I do remember. Came as quite a shock when I could understand you guys."

Nasa laughed. -That's the pokedex's fault, _chis_, not mine. Are you certain you'll be alright?-

"I'll be fine. Just be sure to be back for lunch, m'kay?"

Nasa nodded, then bounded off into the forest. She stopped to talk to something, then continued on. Annie finally quit watching her and turned to her dex, playing the sound one more time before switching to the games menu.

Pixellated bagons strode across the screen confidently, and Annie set one to being a roadblock. She had never met a bagon personally, but somehow she doubted they were as suicidal and single-minded as the game portrayed them. Still, Bagons was an addictive game, and Annie soon had settled down on the ground, leaning against a tree and working out the level as she had so many times before.

- - -

Nasa sighed deeply, continuing on. So far, her quest had met with little success - more frustration than anything else. Even to herself she sounded dumb: 'Excuse me, but have you seen a black-beaked spearow lately?' How was one supposed to ask such things anyway? Why had she even come up with the idea? _It wouldn't hurt for them to be a little more helpful, either, _she added ruefully, glancing back the way she had come with a disdainful glare.

She was careful to keep track of where she was and to map everything out in her mind. That rock became a landmark, or the clawmarks she scratched on this tree. She had moved to the side to mark another tree when she saw him.

He was ancient, his once yellowish-tan fur tinted with a dull grey. His whiskers were tattered, and the trademark tuft of hair that was often mistaken for a mustache was scraggly and hung limp. He sat against a tree, hunched over slightly, rocking back and forth, clutching two spoons in his hands and twisting them into varying shapes with his mind. The alakazam's eyes, when he lifted his head and met Nasa's gaze unblinkingly, were unchanged - as cunning and unfathomable as they had been in his youth, and filled with an ancient impassive wisdom.

Nasa did not know what it was about him that drew her. Captivated by those black, bottomless eyes, she walked slowly over, her eyes never leaving his.

He cackled gleefully when she had come. _-Nyee hee hee hee! Come then, ask me about spearows. Maybe I'll even answer. _-

His mindvoice sounded strained and easy at the same time, halfway between an old man's and a young child's and neither at the same time. He seemed impassive, out to please no one but himself, laughing at the universe as it continued on.

-But you already know, don't you, Elder? What's the point of asking, then?-

_-Nyee hee hee hee hee! Do I? What do I know? Nyee hee hee! What do you know? What does anything know? _- He laughed again, his eyes glinting with silent merriment. Right then and there Nasa decided that she did not like him.

-Very well, then. Have you seen a black-beaked spearow?- the nidorina asked slowly, forcing herself to be patient. The alakazam cackled.

_-And what does it matter, what I have seen? You wouldn't know. I will tell you, if you listen. I will tell you all that matters. _-

_Never mind, then, _Nasa thought, backing away a little. -If it's all the same to you, then, I must get going--

_-BE STILL!- _The psionic blast that accompanied the order made Nasa's head jerk back in recoil. She obeyed despite herself, sitting down hastily. -All right, then, I'm listening…- _Great. Just great. Wonder what's got him bent? _

The alakazam's eyes still gleamed dangerously as his spoons jerked upright, for once his full attention resting upon the smaller figure of the nidorina in front of him. _-That will have to do, _- he said at last, looking annoyed. _-I cannot say it is much of an improvement, though. All your kind thinks to is violence and food and all the basic primal instincts. Always thinking of yourself, you are. Aren't we all, though? People like you, and I suppose I, and this new species, called humans. You must understand, though, that they are not from the world we are, here. They come from somewhere else, long ago. They depend on us to survive. _-

This concept seemed to strike him as very funny, and he curled up in uncontrollable laughter, cackling silently. It seemed that he had long ago lost the ability to vocalize anything, not even the few sounds that his species could make.

_Someone's been at the wrong berries... What is he babbling about, anyway? _Nasa's ears drooped as he lectured on, and she watched him in growing impatience. He seemed to her to be the most absent-minded (or insane) one she had talked to yet, and the random changes in subject were beginning to rear her patience thin. -Spearows! Tell me of the spearows, please! Do you know?-

_-You're not listening! _- he said, one eye fixing upon her accusatorily. _-Ah, but what did I expect from you? You're just like all the rest of them, blind, blind… nyee hee hee! Who does see, anyway? What exists but existence? Nothing! Nyee hee hee! Nothing! I tell you, nothing! It will all end as before, and there will be nothing but nothing left! Nyee hee hee hee hee! _- He paused, suddenly serious, watching her with a single ebon eye. _-The storm will come again. It has before. Wash away all that was and pave the way for what will never be, or what will. The Tempest will come again. And your spearows will be gone, insignificant trivialities in the continuum of space/time. Don't ask! _- he warned when it looked as if the nidorina was about to broach the subject again. The hopeful look in her eyes dimmed. _-Yes, I have seen one or two. There is a nest not far from here. But what does it matter, when all is come? When a hand may be lent to lean the Tempest's path? _-

Nasa blinked. -Lean the tempest- what?- Now he just wasn't making sense at all ... _Go! You can get directions somewhere else! _she told herself, but Nasa's curiosity kept her rooted to the spot.

_-To break the Storm's arrival, _- he replied impatiently, as if Nasa was being incredibly dense. _-Pointless, of course, but it can and has been done. But what use is it, prolonging the paradox? Life is chaos and order, order in chaos, chaos in order, life in death, all the pointless symbolism that minds insist on having. Darkness is not evil, nor is light good. They are what they are, nothing more. Do not try to add meaning to what is what it is, and listen, listen, _truly _listen for once for the things you'll never understand. You will, then, once you listen. That is the lesson you must learn, the Stormbreaker's creed. Listen. See what is there, not what you put there. For all your phantom theories, you are blind unless you see what is really there. Can you create something without knowing what it is you want? Can you piece together something that is not there? (Nyeee hee hee hee hee!) Exactly! You cannot! _-

-Um… well, thanks for your help, I think,- Nasa said, rising. -I'll go see if I can't find the nest…-

_-As impatient as any young kit, _the alakazam sighed, almost sadly, as if he pitied her greatly. _-Go where you will, you will anyways, but my advise to you- _-

-To listen and see what's really there?- Nasa interrupted, thoroughly fed up with his psychological babble by now and eager to get away.

_-NO! _- he cried, shaking a spoon at her as she winced. _-My advice to you, my impertinent friend, is to seek out spoons - but not MY spoons! - and guard them. _- He nodded sagely as if his words bore utmost importance.

She left him cackling to himself, thoroughly annoyed and worked up. She didn't know what it was about the old creature that irritated her so - perhaps it was his wheezing thought-laugh, or his seeming insanity. She couldn't make heads or tales of what he was talking about, and the sheer randomness of the conversation had confused her and irritated her all the more. She left at a trot in case he would think of some other thing he had to tell her and call her back.

Some things were more trouble then they were worth.

- - -

Time escaped her, as usual, and it was only when she was reminded by her stomach that Annie realized just how late it was. She checked the time: 1:39. "Eek! Sorry, Nasa, I completely lost track of-"

She stopped. She was speaking to air.

"Nasa?" she asked, standing up and stretching. "Nasa? Nasa, where are you?"

_That's odd, _she thought. _Nasa's usually pretty punctual... why hasn't she returned? _"Nasa!" she called, waiting for a reply. "Nasa, this isn't funny, you know! Where are you? Nasa!"

A strange voice called to her, and a chill went up Annie's spine. She whipped out the dex, listening for it again. Could it be...?

-If you're wondering, yes, I found one,- Nasa said hotly, striding off to sulk somewhere. -Probably not worth all the time I put in, though. I had to endure a twenty-day lecture by some mind-lost alakazam saying the world was going to end or something like that to find fçurieés Higher Than Thou.-

"You found one?" Annie asked excitedly, seeming not to hear the rest of what Nasa said.

-Yeah, and good luck with him. He's a piece all his own,- she replied earnestly as a fearow fluttered down to land on the tent's crossbar, looking faintly resentful and at the same time resgned.

The avian's tan feathers were tipped with a dark grey, and his long beak looked as if it had been dipped in black ink. What would have been a comb on the most common subspecies was a bony ridge topped by an elaborate crest of russet feathers that faded dramatically to black starting just a little ways away from the forehead and moving to the base of his head. His eyes were black beads that followed Annie's every movement, and when he spoke, it was with an odd monosyllabic drag and a lilt on the end of his sentences. -Am I understanding correctly that this is a social call only? I am not overly fond of humans as the case rests, and I'm not going to give you any chance of catching me, so don't even think about it.-

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Annie replied honestly. "It's just that we thought your species was extinct-"

-Just because you do not see one of us for a while does not mean we vanish,- the fearow cawed. -Do humans really give up hope that easily? Very well, then, if I've provided ample proof of my existence, I'll be going--

"Wait, please!" Annie called, but the fearow made ready to launch off the tent and make his way back where he had come. "Come on," Annie yelled after him. " Won't you stay just a little while? I don't bite!"

He leaped off the tent, allowing the drop to give him lift. Annie stepped in his way, and darted to intercept him as he wheeled to he left. -What?- he snapped as he backwinged, neatly staying in one spot by fanning his wings both forwards and backwards at every stroke.

"Can't I just collect a little data, for research? Please? I came a long ways to find a black-beaked spearow/fearow strain, and now that I've finally found you you won't even give me the time of day?"

-Two sunshadows past nif-fraa,- he replied tartly. -There. That's the time.-

"You can't be that rude," she insisted. "Don't all creatures at least have _some _courtesy? Come on, at least hear me out!"

-You're harder to be rid of than a hatchling flier,- he complained, returning to his previous spot. He settled his wings meticulously, making a show of ensuing that not a feather-strand was misaligned.

Annie sighed. "I understand it's not the thing you'd most want to do, and I appreciate that highly..." _He's so aggressive, _she thought with a mental grimace. _I hope they're not all like that... well, at least he hasn't attacked me. That's something, right? _

-You. You you you. No. Sorry, but no,- the fearow interrupted. -What's this about, you?-

"No!" Annie cried, starting to become truly annoyed. "Five minutes here, alright? I'm doing a study-"

-Fantastic!- the fearow exclaimed in mock-jubilance, puffing himself up for effect. -Wonderful! I'm so glad for you that I really couldn't care!- He settled back down, his beady eyes fixed upon Annie. -I'm not even sure why I'm still here. Waste of my time. I've got things to do.-

"And you're not wasting mine? And I don't? Oh, please!" The girl looked at him beseechingly, her tone changing from annoyed to persuasive. "You have no idea how grateful so many people will be... if I could just find out about your life, if you'd tell me whatever you're willing to - I don't care what it is - and let me tape it... "

-One condition, then,- he said abruptly, startling her into silence. It took a little while to register just what he had said, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Really? You'll do it?"

-One condition,- he cawed again, and Annie nodded. At this point, she'd do practically anything she could. She couldn't believe her good fortune - though admittedly he _did _start to grate on her nerves, he was what she had been sent to find. She had been under the impression that it could take weeks to find anything, if indeed she _did _find something.

"Name it. I'll see what I can do..."

-Don't bother me again.-

"Can do."

- - -

"Well, _that _sure was productive," Annie sighed, rubbing her temples with her first two fingers. Nasa grunted something noncommittal, not stirring from the sunny spot she'd found to nap in. "Nightfix, was it?" the girl continued on, more to herself than to anyone else. _What kind of name is that? _"Well, at least I've got _some _things... though he could have been a lot more helpful.

-We could have just gone about it the usual way and just watched them...-

"Yeah, but that's a little like spying, isn't it? It seems that it's at least the right thing to do to just go and ask instead of just sneaking around in the dark..."

-And we all know how well that went,- Nasa said sulkily, her back still to Annie as she lay curled.

_Is she mad at me? _"But it was YOUR idea, wasn't it?"

Nasa didn't reply. _Typical... _

A ringing sound interrupted her thoughts. "Ah! Hello?" she asked, flipping open her 'dex.

The screen flicked, and the image of a man in his mid-thirties appeared. "Hey, Annie," Brian said with a nod. "I called as soon as I got your message. What's going on?"

"I found them. Well, one, actually," she corrected, glancing down for a moment. "He wasn't very cooperative, but I did get this much, and I'm sending you the clip of the interview, okay?"

"Interview? Annie, what did you do, just go up and ask him stuff?"

"Um... yeah, pretty much," Annie admitted. "It... sorta worked... that counts, right?"

"Well... at least you found out what you set out to do. I'm actually pretty impressed you found one..." He laughed. "Maybe sometimes it's the unorthodox method that works. Just be careful in the future, alright? He could have attacked or the gods know what else. I don't suppose he was very happy to see you, was it?"

"Not really. Anyways, I'll be heading back now, I guess..."

She broke the connection.

"Well, that was..."

-Anticlimactic?- Nasa supplied, and Annie grinned. "I was kinda expecting more from our first adventure... you know, like some ancient legend or a great quest or something. I dunno. It's stupid."

_Such is the Stormbreakers' creed... _-Eh,- Nasa replied, curled up. _Seedless prattle, probably. _-Suppose we should go home now?-

"Yeah... besides, I want a bath."


	3. The Hunt Begins

**Disclaimer:** Pokemon still belongs to Satoshi, Nofriendo- I mean Nintendo, and whatever else. I just have stories based in my little version of it. Now may I have my kitty back? Please?

Thanks for bearing with me here. Things begin to get a bit more serious now, and I apologize in advance: it's finally started to happen. The story's writing itself.

Now to see where it takes us...

A/N: I am used to using tildes for the pokemon speech, but as they don't show UP here, I have reverted to the double dashes. The previous versions were weird, not allowing the dashes to be right, the spacing is bizarre, et cetera. I hope this one works the way it's supposed to.

Words: 2320  
Total: 8576  
In-jokes in this chapter: 1

- - -

**3: The Hunt Begins**

_"In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen."_

--William S. Burrough

Under Nasa's helpful direction, Annie had finally finished packing away her supplies. "What do you want to bet that we'll only have to take this all out again?" she quipped, though the nidorina merely snorted. --Skyva's waiting for us, _chal_. I would not keep her waiting.--

"I suppose you're right…" Annie could never find peace within herself when in the company of creatures that could snap her in two with a single click of their beaks, and Skyva was not known for her patience. Annie could only hope that the pidgeot had hunted lately… she was with them singly by volunteering. No pokeball was latched onto her signature, and if one was, she doubted it would do much good. The pidgeot worked with them, true, but she was as free and wild as Nightfix, beholden to no one but herself.

--If you are finished, shall we?-- Nasa seemed much more at ease with the pidgeot than Annie was; an ironic fact, seeing as Annie was thrice her size.

Annie could see no way out of it. With a sigh, she rose, accidentally placing her weight on her injured hand and giving a small cry of pain. At her partner's churr of concern, Annie shook her head. "It's just sore, is all. I'm fine…"

Nasa snorted, Annie had to jog to catch up with the trot she set out at.

- - -

"Are you _certain?_"

Nightfix's elegant crest rose indignantly. --Do you imply that I tell you falsely? What interest is it to me? A nuisance, the both of them; that's all they are to me. If they have further meaning to you, I'm glad that you will now leave me be.--

He was seriously beginning to think today was Kahaar's way of punishing him. Twice in one day he was confronted, though this time he was in considerably greater peril. The ocerot who held him beneath her claws snarled in silent warning, her patterned coat rippling.

"Mahe, patience. He's no good to us dead."

The feline's green eyes gleamed. –To you. He's as good as a meal to me, and I have not hunted. My condolences if you do not find what you sought.--

The woman in camouflage exposed her teeth in a snarl of her own, pulling viciously on the collar that held the cat hostage. "I say what is and what is not of use to us, fleaball."

The collar tightened, causing Mahe to gasp and jerk backwards. Nightfix took the opportunity to attempt flight, to which he felt a heavy paw knock him down again. The ocerot's claws dug into the flesh of his wing, causing him to cry out hoarsely in pain. He held still; he was not some nestling fresh from egg. If he struggled now, she would rip his wing beyond repair. Instead, he tried reasoning with the forest cat, switching to a dialect the Twolegger would not understand.

-Why do you listen to her? What does she do for you? You're a huntress, a mistress of the forest. You're the Lone Child, the Cat that Walks by Himself. I did not think that you would take orders from a Twolegger!-

Mahe's eyes widened as she hissed, her dark lips drawn back over gleaming fangs. Her voice was a wildcat's scream. --Silence!--

Unfortunately for Nightfix, the fearow knew little respect, and his flippant nature could not be quelled even within the grasp of a _hama_'s claws. Though he knew it would cost him, he could not resist adding softly, -Or is it out of cowardice?-

He screamed as his wing was ripped apart, pain blinding his vision. Blindly he struck out with his beak, trying in a desperate attempt to free himself, and the cat's head caught his neck faster than he could pull back. The last thing he felt before darkness claimed him was the sharp crack of bones.

The woman kicked Mahe savagely, eliciting a pained snarl from the cat as she spat out the severed portion of the fearow's neck. "What possessed you to take him? Have you lost your mind?"

Mahe struggled to her feet, the tightening collar about her throat making her breathing pained. –He... he spoke ill of you,-- she lied, willing to say anything to breathe once more. --We heard enough, now. It shouldn't ... be hard to track them. Children of the horn are unheard of here. He wouldn't have been the only witness.--

She felt the collar release its grip suddenly, gasping for air. Her captor looked about them, suddenly uninterested in the fearow. As Mahe moved to pick up the avian in her jaws, though, the leash was pulled. "Leave it, Mahe!"

--But I have not eat- --

"Leave it! We hunt greater prey tonight!"

- - -

They raced through the forest blindly, a sudden branch adding another slash across the boy's dirt-caked, bloodied face. On the saddlehorn Pohi cried a warning; Falahir darted to the side as a vine shot out. William clutched at the reigns fearfully, causing the ponyta to whinny in protest at having her head pulled up. Still they ran on, terror adding speed to Fala's hoofbeats.

As they cleared a bush, Fala suddenly tried to turn mid-leap, but found that the laws of physics still applied to her. The girl leapt to the side, her nidorina companion darting the other way as the ponyta plowed through where they had been, skidding into a tree. William was thrown from Fala's back, landing painfully in a bush, and Pohi landed somewhere in the vicinity. With grunts and nickers, the ponyta struggled to her feet lest the tangled reigns caught in the tree's branches choke her.

"Are you okay?"

It was the girl, kneeling over him, concern knitting her brows. Will merely gasped, trying to regain his breath. Weakly he nodded, gritting his teeth in pain. He didn't think anything was broken, but he wasn't about to get up and find out until he could breathe again.

"Be… more careful next time!" he told her accusatorily, spitting out a piece of leaf.

"What?" Annie screeched, standing up. "Well, if you're fine, then, well… fine. Nasa, we're going."

Nasa glanced to her human counterpart, then cast her gaze skyward as if she were asking the gods for patience. Annie's quick temper was going to get one or the both of them in trouble someday.

"Whatever," William answered, rising to his feet painfully. "Pohi? Pohi!"

He was answered by a snort as the nidorino made his unsteady way into view. --A fine strategist YOU are,-- he grumbled, shaking a piece of bark off of his horn disdainfully. --Let's have an adventure, he says. Go explore ancient ruins, he says. Did you HAVE to- --

"Ruins?" Annie turned around, her interest sparked. "Where?"

"Back that way, a bit. It was your idea," he retorted, walking stiffly over to free his friend's reigns from the tree where she stood captured.

--I was not the one who took it!--

"Took what?" Annie interjected, perplexed. "What's going on here?" She had returned to where she had been earlier and was now glancing from one to the other. "

--This numbskull decided to walk into runes.--

"It was an accident! If it was that important then couldn't they have lit a candle or something?"

--He broke a Circle, that's what he did. He went looking for the shrine, FOUND the shrine, went INTO the shrine, and broke the circle. Then, he takes it and runs off, and now we've got hunters on our trail. And we're leaving as soon as he untangles her.--

"He takes… what?" Annie glanced to Nasa, who was glaring at her and looking off toward the west. Annie got the feeling that the nidorina was quite ready to leave well enough alone and go home, before something else happened. Unlike Nasa, Annie had an unhealthy sense of adventure, and was perfectly ready to ditch her appointment with her ride home to get involved. Fortunately, there was her partner to give her yet another reality check.

--Annie, Skyva will hunt us down and hang us for the birds if we do not leave, and soon,-- Nasa reminded her sharply. At that moment Will had finished removing tree from reigns, and Fala shook her head in a brilliant dazzle of colour, whinnying anxiously. As Will recalled Pohi and swung onto his mount, the ponyta reared and leapt off, and whatever Will called after him was lost in in the flurry of hoofbeats.

--Now, can we PLEASE go home?-- Nasa begged Annie, who did not even notice that Nasa had spoken. She was too busy staring in shock after where the boy and his companions had been just moments ago.

- - -

"What do you mean, you lost their trail?" The woman glanced accusatorily at Mahe. "Are you sure? I thought you said we could find them!"

The pair was by a riverbank, having paused for a moment as Mahe examined the ground in confusion. There were signs of a campsite having been here, until quite recently, from the looks of it, and for a while the woman was as puzzled as the ocerot at her side. Who _was _this, that awakens rifts and finds time to stop? Here was the lingering scent of a human and a nidine, and from the looks of things they had been here up until recently. Were they truly so naïve? She hadn't counted on such an easy hunt, and frankly it disappointed her. But...

She retrieved from her pocket half of a metallic circle, dull and lusterless. Gently she ran her hand over it, marveling at the smoothness of it, at how her hand slid past it. From what she could see of the symbol on either side, it could mean one of two things. Which was it? The whole of it was hard to grip: it slipped through her hands like water, and she was quick to return it to her inner pocket. Since the circle had been broken, she no longer felt a pulse from it; she could no longer use it as a sort of odd compass.

For all of her research and for all of her knowledge, there was still this one things that perplexed her. Why did she no longer feel the call of the other half?

--This way,-- Mahe said at last, pulling the woman from her reverie. She nodded, and the two set off at an easy run, the large feline leading the way.

- - -

The broad-backed pidgeot clicked her beak, the grating noise in the back of her throat growing as her patience rapidly seeped away. She fanned her great wings, sweeping them back and forth for a moment before resettling them, her head jerking sharply in the direction of a sudden noise. A ratree spiraled up a tree, pausing to chitter at the avian before vanishing from view. Skyva's breath came heavily in a sigh as she snapped a branch in two with her beak.

She'd just about left when Annie and Nasa came panting, both of them with their own version of a sheepish grin. Skyva ignored them both, preening her feathers.

"Sorry I'm late..." Annie panted, letting Nasa finish her sentence. --We were delayed...--

--Delayed, were you?-- Skyva asked, her distinctive voice sending a shiver down Annie's spine. She set her predator's gaze upon Annie, never wavering for a moment. --And I suppose you are to 'delay' us further? I warn you now, Annie: I have not hunted in a good four days. Don't tempt my talon.-- She raised a hind foot in emphasis.

Although Annie knew her brusque manner well, Skyva always had scared her deep down. Involuntarily, she backed up, causing Nasa to glance at her sharply. "R-right, sorry... um..."

Skyva waited as Annie recalled Nasa in a blaze of light and set about to attempting to figure out how on earth she was to climb on. She lunged for the pidgeot, clutching at feathers and trying to pull herself up when Skyva shifted and she ended up on her rump.

--Is it truly necessary to pull out my feathers in the process?-- Skyva snapped, scritching at where Annie had dislodged some of her feathers. Annie looked at the fistfuls in her hand, dropping them and stammering apologies as she rose.

As she looked around for something to help her as a mounting block, Annie began to hate the forest all over again. "You'd think there'd be _some_thing," she muttered, turning and searching around through the small clearing. Still, nothing. She launched herself at a tree, feeling her shoes scrape against it. She scrabbled frantically for a moment before she had slid to the ground, the only reward for her efforts being painful scratches on her arms.

--Perhaps we could attempt my way,-- Skyva suggested, her head reappearing from behind a lifted wing. --What of my talons?--

"No thanks," Annie replied, when several things happened at once.

With a wildcat cry an ocerot charged forward, headed for Annie. Skyva's screeching battlecry rose as the pidgeot launched forward, her feathers fluffed as she halfway extended her wings, hissing. At that moment a bullet shot forward, striking Skyva in the shoulder. The next shot found its mark in the pidgeot's eye, piercing straight into the brain. She leapt out of her vantage point as the pokemon fell limply to the ground in front of a horrified Annie.

The girl backed into a tree as Mahe stalked forward, flanked by the human huntress. "Hand it over," she ordered, "and your death will be a quick one."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Dex entry: Ocerot_

_Rather like a ocelot in appearance, this is one of the forest varieties of the feline strain. Evolves into jagular_

_Dex entry: Ratree_

_A small, brown grey or reddish brown rodent with a long bushy tail. Evolves into skitree._

_A note on trainers and pokeballs:_

_The ability to convert and store something into energy is a very useful one, especially when it comes to something such as keeping large creatures closely and allowing aqueous pokemon to travel on land, via a carrier. Also, it can pull you back out of death's jaws: a pidgey literally can be rescued from a position it could never escape. The pokeball will lock onto your genetic sequence, thus allowing you to be recalled at will. Of course, it is possible to break out, and within the energy form is the strange sense of what is going on outside coupled with a lack of time. It's conscious suspended animation._

_The term 'trainer' is a misnomer. A better term would be a strategist. _

_There are advantages to both sides. For the pokemon, there is always ready food, shelter, company, and safety. The trainer gains protection, the pokemon gains someone who can see the battlefield from a distance, and hopefully can plan ahead. That is the true reason for such a partnership- to have a general. As to who is the strategist, it is often a matter of intellect and strengths. Nasa, for example, could withstand attacks from this realm much better than a human, such as Annie, could._

_Besides, it's nice to have a handy heal or some other trinket that humans seem to insist on carrying. These actually do come in handy._

_It's a partnership, not a master/slave relationship. Unlike the obedience chips inserted into the Kanto/Hoenn balls shudder, this is a matter of respect. Even in the games, you must earn the respect of your partners. Treat them wrong, and eventually things'll get out of hand. I'm, personally, waiting for Mahe to snap._


	4. Captive

**Disclaimer:** My story is based in the pokemon world. I don't own it.

A/N: Okay. I REALLY apologize. This woman is ruining my story! She comes in, kills people, and then kidnaps- well, you'll see. Still, it's as good as any way to start off the story, so I suppose I'll still let it go where it will.

Please note that Nasa is almost four feet high when she stands. She's close to 'evolution', as some call it.

Words in the actual chapter: 2341   
Total: 10917

- - - - - - -

**4: Captive**

_'Tis thus we heed no instincts but our own, Believe no evil, till the evil's done. Fr., Nous n'ecoutons d'instincts que ceux qui sont les notres. Et ne croyons le mal que quand il est venu._

_Jean de la Fontaine_

The two shots rang through the forest, their sharp rapport startling birds from the trees. Through the rush of wings the woman came forward, easily stepping over Skyva's mangled head. Mahe leapt onto the felled avian's shoulder, pausing a moment before leaping once more onto the ground, her large paws making no sound as they touched the ground.

Annie was far too startled by the suddenness of the attack to even scream, backing into the same tree she had been attempting to climb moments ago. It didn't seem real; it _couldn't_ be! This was just some nightmarish dream...

As the woman strode towards her, her pistol trained evenly on the girl, the fact of it dawned on her. _I'm going to die... just as Skyva did... she's going to kill me..._

"You... murderer...!" she whispered, her brown eyes wide. "You killed her! Why-"

The woman did not come nearer, her unwavering gaze holding Annie as still as the pistol in her left hand. "You have something that I want," she explained cooly as Mahe hissed. "Don't make me repeat myself, girl-"

"I don't have anything!" Annie cried, her voice shrill. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The woman tensed, and Annie flinched, expecting a blow or a bullet. When it did not come, she dared to open her eyes, though she still could not bear to look ahead. Skyva... she was not overly fond of the pidgeot, but she never thought... she never wished for her to _die!_ This was wrong, this shouldn't be happening! "Please... please don't kill me," she whispered, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

--The scent of nidine is about her,-- the ocerot told the woman, neither of them moving. --But are you certain she is the one?--

"How many human/nida pairs would there be in this forest?" the woman replied tartly, not sparing a glance to the feline. "What-"

Annie's brain no longer heard her. _That boy... he had a nidorino with him... didn't he take something?_ The realization dawned slowly. That boy had been in a hurry- could this be the reason? '_Then, he takes it and runs off, and now we've got hunters on our trail.'_

Hunters on their trail... that must mean... _She killed Skyva for no reason!_

_And she'll kill me, too, no matter what I say,_ she realized slowly. _It doesn't matter. I'm going to die. And she's going to find out that I don't have whatever it is, and then she'll go after him if I say something. She'll go and kill him, too!_

"Stop!" she screamed suddenly, causing the two to blink. "Killing me's... you won't get what you want. I've hidden it, and if you kill me I won't tell you where it is."

From within her pokeball, Nasa mentally rammed her head against the ground. There were many stupid things that Annie could have said, but this was among the dumbest of them all. Perhaps she wouldn't die right away, but what would happen when the female lost patience? No one could stand up to torture forever. Annie had just bought herself a world of pain with those words.

She listened to the exchange further when suddenly a wild impulse struck her. Without giving it any thought, she cast herself forward, feeling her body reform from the energy that it had been and took off into the thickest of the foliage. She did not have to look back to know that she was pursued, but it did not work as she had hoped. There were… two of them?

The woman watched her partner bound off after the nidorina, an unpleasant smile clouding her face. "Was that your plan?" she asked softly as Annie screamed Nasa's name, fearful for her friend's life.

She needn't have worried.

- - -

A nidorina is the middle stage between pup and adult, and is famed for being as temperamental and ungainly as a teenager. The forearms, though they were never long to begin with, have not lengthened with the body as the hind legs grow in power and length. This places the nidorina somewhere in-between two- and four-legged running, depending on the stage of her growth. Nasa was near the adult stage, and it showed in how she often carried herself, preferring a two-legged stance.

When she ran, however, it was in an uneven lope, fore and hind legs touching the ground in a swift four-beat cadence, nothing near the speed that a nidoran could achieve if she needed to, and the ocerot was gaining ground swiftly. A nidorina's horn was not as large as the nidorino's, but the venom carried in the barbs along her back and in her bite was twice as potent. The ocerot knew this, and was hesitant to close with her. Mahe's hesitation decided Nasa.

She spun around as the ocerot leapt over a fallen log, her beak halfway open, her stance wide as she rose to her hind legs, keeping her head down and the horn at the ready. When Mahe's hind feet touched the ground she used them to pivot off to the side, trying to find a weak spot in the nidorina's defense. The fight had begun.

An inner part of Mahe warned her that this was not a fight that she could win. She had no poison resistance, and the nidorina was tougher than she was. This was not a fight that she wanted, but if she did not carry out the woman's wishes, she'd easily be the next one on the ground, a hole through her skull. If she left, the woman would hunt her down. She'd seen it happen before, when she was a cub, and it was not an experience she wanted to undergo.

It was not out of loyalty or love that Mahe listened to her; it was out of fear.

Nasa stayed in one spot, turning as the ocerot moved around her at varying speeds. Mahe skidded to a halt, feigning one way and then darting in to the left in an attempt to slash at Nasa's hardened withers; Nasa spun around and almost grazed the feline with her horn. Neosaur and feline watched each other for a long time, sizing the other up, and each time the ocerot danced in, Nasa was ready with claw or horn or beak.

At last, the smaller pokemon leapt at the larger one, her claws slashing vicious scores in the nidorina's side. This was no regulated match, where the attacks were pulled back before contacting and the magical residue alone was allowed to contact. This was a full-out fight, and both sides knew it. Nasa bellowed, ramming her head as hard as she could into the ocerot's shoulder.

Both pulled back, bleeding profusely. Of the two wounds, the feline had received the worst one, and Mahe retreated as Nasa suddenly took the offensive. The left foreleg was useless; the toxin had spread to the nerves and forced them to relax fully. Mahe couldn't even pull it up to get it out of her way.

Again Nasa lunged, and again Mahe retreated, this time with a set of clawmarks on her cheek. The ocerot backed away, hissing in both pain and anger, as the nidine warbled her challenge.

Finally, bloody and beaten, Mahe slunk away, slowly returning through the forest to where she knew relative safety lay. Nasa watched her go, a final churring click of her beak signaling her announcement of victory as she sat down to attend to her own wounds. From the back of her throat she worked up a whitish foam, spreading it with her tongue and the tip of her blunt beak into the slashes across her side, allowing it to seep into the gashes and solidify, keeping the wound from insects and disease.

Once it had been attended to, she stood, shook her head, and trotted back the way she had come, following the scent of her opponent. One down, one to go.

- - -

Annie stood by helplessly as one by one, each of Annie's things was rifled through and tossed aside. She groaned inwardly, a part of her thinking just how long it would take her to repack everything where it was supposed to be, though the mundane thought seemed a little odd when weighed against her current position: tied to a tree and held at gunpoint. "I told you, it's not here," she started, causing her captor to glance up.

"It had better be," the huntress replied, returning to her task. "I'm quite close to losing my patience, understand, and that is not something that would be a pleasant experience for you. Or is that what you're trying for?"

A loud, high warble filled the air, almost birdlike in its sound, but Annie knew at once what exactly had made that sound. It was not something the 'dex would translate; only by virtue of their years together did Annie know the call for what it was. Hope filled her heart as she listened; it was a call that one nidine would make to another of her herd. Since Annie and she had been together since the two of them were but children, there was but one conclusion she could come up with.

She had only to buy them enough time...

The warble came again as the huntress stood. "What does she say?" When Annie hesitated, she dealt her a savage backhand to the face. "Answer me!"

_She wouldn't call like that if she was under attack or if she was running. That means..._

"She's won!" Annie blurted out loud, not aware she was speaking until she said it. A plan was forming as she continued. "That's a victory cry." _Please come,_ she begged silently. _Hear it, nidine, hear it, please-_

A second warble, deeper and more distant, answered the first, and the woman glanced away for a moment. "There are two of them?" she wondered aloud, dashing Annie's hopes against the rocks. If she lost the element of surprise, she'd quite possibly lost everything.

"Um… nidines can make a large variety of vocalizations," Annie offered quickly. "They can make it sound like there's a whole herd of them when there's only one. It's a... survival tactic?" she finished with a sheepish grin, knowing how lame her explanation sounded.

"And you knew it, didn't you? You tried to fool me into thinking it was you! You little bitch - you let me believe- and let them get away!"

Annie closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

- - -

Pohi was out and on the ground the moment he heard that call. It touched something far deeper than any words or thoughts could penetrate, a deep instinct set within him and his ancestors for millennia. His large ears lifted, listening to her.

Fala wheeled, coming to a stop with a protesting whinny. Will saw nothing but Pohi, rigidly still and listening. Suddenly his companion's chest inflated as he rose to his hind legs, tilting his head upward and replying in his own guttural warble.

"What is-"

--We go,-- Pohi announced, his voice leaving no room for contradiction. --She calls.--

"What? Poh, what's gotten into you?" Will demanded as the odd trilling sound came again in a pattern different from what he had just heard. Pohi gave a short cawing bark, and then set off at a lope towards the sound. --If I go alone, then this is where we part, Will,-- he called back. --Maybe we'll reunite somewhere, maybe we won't.--

"Damn it all!" Will cursed as he watched his friend bound away into the thicket. "Well, Fala? What now?"

--We follow,-- the equine replied, following the trail back the way they had come.

Quickly they overtook the nidine, and as Will recalled him as the ponyta put on speed.

"I know I'm going to regret this..."

- - -

Hearing her call answered, Nasa changed her call to request aid. This, too, was answered with an affirmative _Kyip!_

Falling silent, she waited for him to come, hoping that they wouldn't be too late.

- - -

Despite her calm exterior, the woman's nerves were beginning to wear thin. Though she would be the last to admit it, she was beginning to become a little nervous. Where was Mahe? Why did she not return? What exactly had that thrice-damned nidine done to her?

Adding to the fact that she had begun to suspect a trap was being formed for her, she was all but calm. She'd acted rashly, and she'd had done to her just what she had intended to do to this girl. Now the trap had been closed on her instead, and she couldn't leave...

Slowly she felt her resolve begin to waver as she tossed aside the med-kit in disgust. "I'll not ask you again," she snapped, turning her full attention back to the girl. "_Where is it?_"

Her pockets had yielded nothing, and she was loath to search in other places it could possibly have been stashed away. Besides, unless this girl's eyes lied better than her tongue did, which was quite unlikely, she did not have it. Her edge had left her. She was outmaneuvered, and she knew it. If she killed the girl, she lost her bargaining chip. If she didn't...

Quickly she slashed the rope that held Annie to the tree and pulled her roughly to her feet. "You're coming with me, girl," she hissed, dragging Annie along behind her as she ran.

Annie tried to scream for help, but she found she had barely any breath for running, let alone for crying out. Her hands bound behind her, she ran in the direction of the river, the woman dragging her along by the elbow.

- - -

_Dex entry: Nidine_

_A nidine is any of the nida-strain, from nidoran to nidoking or queen. This is one of the neosauran strains, in a similar vein as sauropods like tropius or troodontids like raptyrith. In appearance, a full-grown nidoqueen resembles a two-toed, four-fingered hadrosaur, the supposed plates on the chest from the canon art being muscle over two chest bones in the real creature. In height they range from five to six feet; in length they have been measured at over twelve. Like hadrosaurs, the nidines are plant-eating creatures, able to stomach almost anything. Their most-relied upon defense is their venomous barbs and horn, though their sheer power can deliver crushing blows._

_Definition: Neosaur_

_The ancient dinosaurs had long ago either gone extinct, or evolved to suit the changing climate. Survivors of saurian descent can be found worldwide, with shapes and elemental affinities varying just as much as any other scientific class. Dragons such as the charma family fit into this category, along with nidines and the ambush predators known as tetrasaurs - bulbasaur/ivusaur/venusaur. These modern-day creatures are, like the dinosaurs of old, neither mammal, avian or reptile, but a bit of each. Their classification: neosauria._


	5. Even the Killers

**D15cL41/\/\3RZorZ: L337 edition-** I doo n0t pwn pkmn, n00b lololz!1!1! (I apologize for that. If you write like that in a non-joking manner, there's no help for you. You're too far gone.)

A/N I apologize again for not updating for a while. On a positive note, I know where I'm going again.

Words in the actual chapter: 2845  
Active Characters: 7

- - -

**5: Even Killers **

_"Don't be so quick to condemn, for even killers have their reasons. The war they fight just isn't one you're familiar with."_  
--Username Kiyura, from Kuuiishakei

Strained breaths betrayed her position as she slowed. It wasn't the loss of blood that was beginning to take its toll on her, not yet; nor was it the strain of dragging herself off with the use of only three of her legs. It was the nidorina's venom that spread through her bloodstream through the grievous wound, causing her to slow and stumble. The trees doubled before her vision, a slur of brown and green that Mahe couldn't tell apart anymore and no longer cared. As she pitched forward, her good front leg tripping over the limp one that dragged beneath her, she had no more energy to even attempt to rise. She lay in the brambles, no longer feeling the insects buzzing about her, unable to gather enough energy to care. Instead, she noted with a lethargic, weary mind that the trees stretched forever upwards, growing as her vision faded. Faintly she heard the birdsong around her still, the distant hum of insects, a long series of calls somewhere far, far away...

Some part of her mind wondered how far the trees rose, and at what point the sky broke free from their reach and soared high above everything. She could see sparkles of piercing blue and white, fading to a yellow as it filtered down, and she watched it, keeping it in her vision as the blackness threatened to take everything. Just as it started to fade away, as well, a dim light filled her, and she felt nothing but energy all around her.

- - -

The woman held Mahe's pokeball extended, staring at where the creature had been moments before for quite some time before snatching it away and shoving it into a slot on her belt. She turned, dragging Annie along after her once again, but not before Annie had seen the expression on her face and felt the tightening of her hand on Annie's wrist.

With a sudden vicious pull, Annie was wrenched off-balance, barely able to correct it in time before she fell. They ran through the brush, something that Annie found immensely difficult. Many times she stumbled, and a few times she fell altogether, at which point the woman yanked her upright. "Where- where are we going?" she gasped when she could go no further, and there was no amount of pulling and curses that could get her to run again. They had been forced to slow to a walk, something the woman did not like one bit.

"We're almost to the river," she said, more to herself than for Annie's benefit.

"The river?" Annie echoed, seeming to pull her captor out of her reverie.

"Will you come on!" she snapped, and practically dragged Annie forward, forcing her on. She did not glance behind her but plowed forward, although she picked an actual path to follow this time: something that Annie was exceedingly grateful for.

- - -

Will stared at the dead body of the pidgeot, unable to look away and knowing he should. The nidorina had explained as they ran, but this spoke more than any words could.

--Annie?-- the neosaur chirruped, calling out to silence. --Annie!--

--She's probably dead,-- Pohi told her, causing her to stiffen, meeting the nidorino's eyes in obvious challenge. He looked away, unwilling to meet it, though Nasa's stance did not soften as she watched him.

Will was at a complete loss of what to do. On the one hand, he felt sorry for her, and it helped him none to know that he'd been the cause of this, but what could they do about it? He didn't know anything about tracking or woodlore: that was up to Pohi's instincts. Fala, he knew, preferred open spaces where she could run, and this twisted maze of brambles hardly qualified in the equine's eyes as somewhere she could run. Necessity forced her to, earlier; now that they had a lead, she could pick her way carefully through the brush. He doubted he could coax more out of her.

A velvet nose brushed against Will's shoulder, the ponyta's breath sending warmth through his shirt. He touched her cheek gently, and she snorted. --Will?--

"Nothing," he said quickly, bringing his mind back to the present. "I just need some time to think."

_What was going on?_ Events were going far too rapidly for Will to keep track of them, and he had too many questions with too few answers, the most prevalent being what exactly he had in his pocket.

He didn't know what had made him pick it up, really. He still didn't know why he didn't just get rid of it, seeing the trouble it caused. Why not hand it over? What exactly had he done?

_Because of me, someone's dead. All because of me..._

--We should go,-- Fala told him, withdrawing her head. --I don't like this place, but I think you may already have guessed as much. I'd much prefer the open where I can run, if it comes to a fight, and somewhere that doesn't offer as much cover.--

--Then I'm leaving,-- Nasa said, flicking an ear to rid herself of an insect. --If you're not going to help my partner, I'm going on my own. I'm sure you understand.--

She watched as Will turned, running a hand through his rumpled hair. "Pohi?"

--I go with her.-- He met Nasa's gaze. --You gave the call to Herd, and Herd came. I'm not about to abandon you now.--

--Thank you,-- Nasa replied simply.

"You're BOTH insane!" Will cried, not for the first time and, he felt, likely not for the last. "She'll kill you both!"

--Not if I kill her first,-- the nidine - what was her name - Nasa, said amiably, and Pohi raised his head in acknowledgement.

"I can't believe this. My best friend deserts me." Will sounded hurt, and the nidine looked at him over his shoulder.

--Not if you come with us. You caused this mess. It's up to you to fix it as best as you can.--

For the second time in one day, Will gave in. "You owe me, y'hear? You owe me majorly, the both of you knobskulls."

- - -

Annie heard the river before she saw it, and when they broke free of yet another tangle of barbed underbrush, the woman released her, letting her rest. She panted for breath, trying to figure out just how many scratches and bruises she'd acquired from that wild flight through untamed forest.

"It should be here somewhere..."

"What should?" Annie asked, rising painfully to her feet.

The woman did not answer, pacing the top of the riverbank. Annie repeated her question, annoyed by being ignored for so long. "What should be here?"

"You'll see."

At last, the last straw had been placed. Annie let her fear and uncertainty channel into anger, feeling herself bridle with indignation. "No! I'm not moving from this spot until you explain to me just what is going on here! Why did you do that? Why don't you let me go? Why did you kill Skyva? What are you so afraid of?"

The last question made the woman spin around, and Annie was surprised at what she saw in the woman's eyes as she came within inches of her face. _She's only a few years older than I am!_

"I can't let you go. Don't you get it? I can't! There's too much at stake here, and if I don't get-" She broke off suddenly, whirling with such force that Annie was almost knocked off-balance. "I've said enough on this matter."

This made her all the more curious. "No you haven't! What the hell's going on here! Get _what?_ What's at stake? Lives? You've taken one already! What do you plan to do, go after everyone until you find what you're looking for?"

"Ah, here it is," her captor said, answering her earlier statement. "And no, that's not what I plan to do. I plan to get to a Center, and fast. I can't leave you here because you'll just warn them away, and as long as I have you your friend will hunt for you, hopefully bringing the other with her. That saves me a lot of trouble, girl. Now come on."

She pulled from her belt two item balls, releasing from them a canoe and a kayak-style paddle. "Get in," she ordered, and when Annie hesitated dragged her bodily forward and threw her into the half of the canoe that was in the water. She stepped in herself, only to have Annie struggle to get to her feet, neatly tipping over the canoe in the process.

Annie quickly found that with her hands bound it was impossible to swim. She struggled, panicking as she felt the current start to drag her into the middle of the water, and to her dismay she could not even touch bottom. The river was far deeper than she had thought it would be.

Frantically she kicked, feeling her efforts grow increasingly feeble as the cold of the water sapped her strength. Air! She needed air! Frantically she squirmed, trying to break free of the ropes that bound her hands, but the more she tried, the tighter they grew. Her chest was burning from lack of oxygen, and she let out the breath she'd managed to gasp in before the current pulled her under, allowing herself a moment's reprieve.

It was short-lived, however, and then she wished she hadn't let that breath go. The burning need had returned almost instantly, this time with a vengeance, and as much as she struggled she felt herself slipping...

Suddenly something gripped her shirt firmly, pulling her upwards. She came up coughing and gasping for breath, feeling her body being tugged to the narrow bank, up and out of that vicious river. She lay there, exhausted and shivering as her savior recalled the canoe before it was out of range.

"That was stupid," the woman chided her. "Don't do that again." After a moment, the woman rummaged through and found another item ball. She cut Annie's bonds, saying, "Here, take those clothes off. Now!" she chided the younger female when she hesitated. Reluctantly, Annie removed shoes, socks, shirt and pants, standing there shivering.

The woman scowled. "Undergarments, too."

"Wha-?"

"Don't make me do it for you," she growled threateningly, and when Annie still hesitated, took a few steps towards her. "Or do you want to catch hypothermia?" Annie turned around to allow herself at least a little privacy, glancing over her shoulder hesitantly after a moment's passing.

The woman was no longer guarding her, but instead was rummaging around her pack, which, to Annie's surprise, was stocked full of item balls. She'd find something, shake her head, and put it aside, and only after a while did Annie realize she was looking for a spare set of clothing that would work.

Once she had turned her attention back to the task set to her something made of cloth hit her back. "Dry off, and then put these on," the woman ordered, and returned to muttering under her breath.

Annie glanced around to see the woman sitting perfectly straight, facing the opposite direction. She then looked at what had been thrown at her.

There was a cotton towel that Annie snatched up immediately, and to Annie's surprise she'd been given a complete change of clothing, minus shoes. They fit well enough, if a bit more snugly than Annie was used to, and she had to roll up the ends of the pants so they wouldn't trail in the dirt. "Thanks."

"You done yet?"

"Yeah..."

"Good." She stood, still not looking at Annie. "Now let's try this again."

- - -

They stuck to the game trails, Pohi and Nasa in the lead. Fala trailed along behind, her ears flicking at every slight sound in the underbrush. Once or twice she startled, dancing nervously to the side, and at last Will recalled her, to everyone's relief.

Nasa had an intent look in her eye that made Pohi not question her. The path she followed was fairly evident, until it vanished, to their dismay. The trail through the underbrush was hard to follow: now it seemed impossible. They'd reached an imposing wall of branching nettles that showed no sign of being disturbed.

--We must have took the wrong path somewhere...--

--We can't have!-- Pohi flinched at the vehemence of Nasa's reply. --Where then could they have gone? Can you answer me that?--

--I cannot,-- Pohi replied reluctantly. --But I do know that I do not see how we are to pass through, nor can I fathom how they managed. Do you see a way?--

Will had caught up with them now, and stood staring at the nettles. "No way they went in there," he said after a while. "Unless there were a hidden pathway through, and even then I don't see it. And- what are you doing?"

--Seeking the hidden pathway,-- Nasa said, as if it were obvious.

"You're not going to find anything, you know," Will informed her, dubiously regarding the matted tangle of branches. "We'd do better to find a way around."

Nasa would not listen, trying to burrow here and there in the branches, and each time was forced to retreat. She snorted, though her resolve was weakening as she grew more desperate. Finally she abandoned all caution, charging the brush with a war-cry that quickly turned into a cry of dismay when she became irrevocably wedged. The more she struggled, the more entangled she became. It took the combined efforts of Will and Pohi to free her, and once she was able to back out of the brush, she sat down, defeated and dejected.

"Come on. There's gotta be another way around..."

- - -

Something had changed in how Annie viewed the older woman. She now wasn't sure _what_ she thought of her. On the one hand, she'd shown a lot more kindness than Annie had expected. On the other... she was a murderer.

She looked out over the water, sitting in the front seat of the canoe. They went against the current, but were making great time. Though Annie had no idea how far they'd gone, she saw the trees sweep by with surprising speed. For all her faults, the woman knew what she was doing.

The woman had said nothing more sine she'd shoved them off, though Annie thought she was being exceedingly trusting. She'd given what Annie saw as multiple opportunities to slip off, but in doing so she'd shown that she at least had some level of decency. She'd even saved Annie's soaking clothing, which lay in a soaking bundle on the floor of the canoe.

She glanced back at the woman, watching her paddle for a while. She was strong, and it showed as they practically flew along the water, propelled by her sure, strong strokes. Annie waited, but the woman didn't even meet her gaze. "Hey," she started, and when no reply came, she continued, determined to break the silence.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" the woman replied, plunging the left side of her double-sided paddle into the water.

"Back there, in the river. Why did you save me?"

The rhythm of the oars did not break stride. "You're no use to me dead."

After a pause, Annie had another question. "Then why bother giving me fresh clothing? You could have let me dry off in the sun."

"Next time, I won't."

The silence stretched for another few moments before Annie managed to break it. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

"You don't even know my name, do you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Well," Annie said, not at all discouraged, "I'm Annie Callaghan. So what's your name?"

The woman ignored her, dipping the right oar into the water.

"I can't very well go around calling you 'hey you,' can I?" Annie waited, and after a while, smiled brightly. "Okay. If you won't tell me, I'll guess. Hmmm. Let's see. Is it Lisa?"

The woman did not answer, but Annie didn't seem to care. "What about Zelda? No? Okay... Victoria? Ella? Margaret?" She was running fast out of names to guess, and fell to trying to think of what it could be.

"Hannah? ... What about Tomoko? Rosaline?"

At last the woman sighed. "Look, just call me whatever you want to. I don't care."

"Okay! Rosaline it is. So Rosaline,-"

_Does she never shut up? _the newly christened Rosaline wondered to herself, listening to Annie pepper with more questions. She was beginning to seriously regret ever kidnapping the girl, what was her name - Annie - to begin with. She seemed to have forgotten all fear she'd had of 'Rosaline' to begin with, and now filled the silence with endless chatter. Rosaline sighed. Some people _liked_ silence.

Rosaline. The name almost made her laugh. _At least the girl has imagination..._

- - -

_Posted January 11, 2006_


	6. More of the Same

"My condolences on the death

of you," she says. But my attention

is turned elsewhere,

or I'm not listening at all.

--Stephen Pettinga

please,

if I should die

let it be before I fall.

Words: 1,721

**Mandatory disclaimer, in one breath:** deep breath Idon'townpokemonandallconceptsthatareuniquefromitarestillSatoshi-san's. Istillclaimrightstomyfabrications. (IfyouactuallytookthetimetoreadthisI'mimpressed.) Ididn'tusemuchbreathtoreadthisaloudsoit'sdoableatleastforme. Andnotusingspaceisreallyweird;it'sinstictualtohititnowsoIhavetokeepmyselffromdoingit. pant pant

A/n: The truth is, life's like this. For long periods of time, nothing happens. It's waiting. Any adventure story has a whole bunch of boring trivialities beneath its glossy exterior, and I've heard the worst thing about life is the waiting around. It's exciting at moments... and then when it ought to be scary, it's peaceful. Nature doesn't obey our wishes. I apologize about the horrid pacing, but what can I do? It's not letting me progress any faster. We keep thinking that it comes at you fast, but especially outside of the city it's a lot of traveling and wandering around.

I also apologize for the wait: school is evil, and wouldn't load for days. This chapter seems really short, and I'm sorry, but here goes. Next one'll be more interesting.

Words: 2027

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Chapter 6: More of the Same**

_Therefore, perhaps, genius is not in creation like all the genius folks say, but is in time management.__--Stephen Pettinga_

"So? Where'd they go?"

--Yes. They went. I see. I tell. They go past, two Twoleggers.--

--What direction?-- Pohi asked

--Please try and focus,-- Nasa begged, shifting her weight incessantly in an attempt to disperse nervous energy. --Try and remember all that you can; this is important!--

The ratree's tail flicked as he glanced suddenly to the side, his body stiffening. The rodent was on a branch above them, gripping the bark with his sharp little claws to remain stable at an almost vertical angle, and now he looked as if he might flit away at the slightest provocation. Nasa shook her head with a snort, backing up a little so she wouldn't have to crane her neck back so far to even look at the thing.

For their part, neither nidine believed that they could get much out of the ratree, but they had no other idea how they were to figure out where the woman and Annie had gone. At Nasa's snort, Pohi lowered his head with a sound made deep in the back of his throat that Will recognized as one of frustration. --This gets us nowhere.--

--No, Sikkit remembers! He tells all! They come and they go, but not that way. They say river, and that's the way they go.--

"The river...?"

--Yes, yes!-- Sikkit replied happily. --She say river, Sikkit hears. Almost to the river, she says, and then away they go!--

"Why would that matter?" Will wondered, completely bewildered. "What's so special about rivers?"

--They always go to the ocean,-- Pohi pointed out. --If you get lost, you find a river and follow it. Eventually you'll find something.--

Nasa watched the exchange, thinking. --Maybe where she's taking Annie is across it.--

--Did she say anything else?-- Pohi asked the ratree, watching the rodent as he flicked his tail in nervous little spasms.

--No, no, she just said that she was going to the river and to come on,-- Sikkit replied adamantly, glancing this way and that with a near-constant flick of his tail. Nasa was beginning to grow tired of his eternal fidgeting, and her irritation began to show as her patience wore thin.

--I should have known better than to ask a silly ratree for directions,-- she snorted, setting off. --Come on, then... --

Will watched as she set off, heading in what really looked like a random direction, Pohi hastening to keep up with her. He sighed, thanking the rodent before he jogged after the pair. _I really hope you know what you're doing..._

- - -

"Rosaline?" Annie asked after a blessed moment of utter silence.

"Mm?" 'Rosaline' replied absently, still rowing. She was beginning to grow very tired of her 'hostage', and not for the first time wondered who really was captive here. If it came down to who wanted out of the canoe more, it was likely her.

"What's your friend's name?"

Rosaline did not stop. "Mahe."

"Will she be alright?"

There was no answer for a while; 'Rosaline' did not trust herself to reply. She did not want to admit to this girl her worry for her partner, nor should she. She had no room for meaningless pity. If the cat died, then that was how it would be. If she lived... well... 'Rosaline' would continue as if nothing had happened. That was how she was supposed to be, anyway. It was surprisingly hard to not care about others and just about a single cause.

"Rosaline?"

There was a harsh sigh. "What now?"

Annie pointed. "Um... try not to run into that..."

The woman did not have to look where she was pointing to know what she was talking about; she'd known about the outcropping of rock for a while now. "That's at least five feet from us. We'll be fine. Or would you rather I turn us a little more and run us into the reef?"

"I don't see anything-" Annie paused, feeling Rosaline's glare on the back of her head. She turned halfway in the canoe, feeling her back crack as she did so. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Rosaline said, pulling hard with the oar first on the left side, then the right. "Look." As they passed through, she dipped the right oar in, feeling it connect. "See? We're barely going over as it is. Any further and we'd have to struggle through. I, for one, happen to like being dry, and don't want to rip a hole in my canoe. You satisfied now?"

When the younger female did not reply, Rosaline took it that her point had been made. She glanced up, watching the trees go by on either direction. Once or twice they passed a poliwhirl floating in the water, and a magikarp leapt in a spray of droplets, landing with a splash a few seconds later. It was a healthy, good river, swift and strong but well-populated with flora and fauna alike.

Sitting in the front of the canoe, Annie felt as if she was flying. Ripples from the faint wind gave the river's surface a rough, ever-changing texture, with a patch now and then of perfectly smooth, almost glassy water. A small teiflei doe glanced up to watch them go by, her two dappled fawns also looking up to see what their mother was so interested in. As Annie watched, the trio went back to drinking from the river's edge, and soon was gone from view.

Certainly it was a change of pace from what she was accustomed to, and it wasn't long before Annie was completely and totally bored.

"Are we there yet?"

"No. And _please_ don't start that," Rosaline moaned. "We aren't there yet and we won't be for a little while longer."

"Will you tell me when we are?"

It took all of her patience and self-control not to pitch Annie out of the canoe right then and there. "You'll find out bloody soon enough, won't you!"

"Not if you don't tell me," Annie replied petulantly, eliciting a strangled cry of frustration from the older woman.

- - -

Will, Nasa and Pohi paused at the river's edge. The female nidine paced anxiously, looking out over the river. --They could be anywhere by now…--

With a look, Will sat down, taking out the 'relic'. "All of this... everything happened... is it really all because of me? Because of this?"

Dejectedly, he watched the two nidines confer. He had no idea what to do; he'd been caught up in something far more than he would have liked to participate in. All of this was so weird that it was not to be believed, and yet he felt guilty for wanting nothing more than to toss the bloody thing into the water and walk away from it all. If it weren't for Pohi, he probably would have done just that.

_What am I doing here, anyway?_ he wondered, fingering the impossibly smooth semi-circle. _What on Earth possessed me to go treasure hunting? But aren't they usually supposed to issue some sort of ancient curse or something if this is gonna happen? I didn't do anything wrong, did I? So why do I feel like I'm the one to blame?_

No, it _wasn't_ his fault, he decided. Some insane person just happened to want it too, and that was that. Enough of this madness.

"Look, she's probably right. I don't think we can do anything now... so let's just go home and forget the whole thing, alright? I'm sorry, really sorry, that this happened, but I don't see where I fit in in all of this. Here. You want this? Take it. I don't."

Nasa looked at the dull object as if it had betrayed her somehow. --How you fit in? Here, I'll tell you how you fit in. You got my best friend kidnapped, my mentor killed, and our mission ruined. That's all that you did. And you're going to put it right. Aren't you?--

"Look," Will asked, spreading his arms wide. "Did I do any of that? No. Miss Psychopath did, thank you very much, so don't freakin' blame me!"

Pohi was silent, watching the two bristle, and turned his attention back to the river. There were footsteps in the mud nearby, but beyond that he really could not find anything. Logic said that they would probably go downstream, but Pohi had absolutely no idea, and asking the locals proved more trouble than it was worth. He didn't like any of this, but he wasn't about to allow Nasa to continue on alone. Nor would he easily leave Will, which placed him in the peacemaker's position yet again if he did not want an even worse situation on his hands.

--Would you both stop it? We're doing no good here at all. And I really don't see how we can find where they went unless we know which way they went.--

--Annie stood up for you,-- Nasa told Will accusingly. --She could have told her about you, but she didn't. She didn't! And now you repay her by leaving her to die!--

--No one's being left to die!-- Pohi cried, feeling the situation spiraling rapidly out of control. --Have you lost your minds?--

Nasa's voice was a shrill whistle as she whirled to face Pohi, her head low and her horn gleaming. --What of Skyva? Mm? What about her?--

"What about her?"

--She's dead! That's what! She's dead, and you've killed her!--

"I didn't kill anyone!" Will protested. "It wasn't my fault!"

--STOP!-- Pohi bellowed, and for once the two combatants fell silent. --Agreed, bad stuff happened. Agreed, your Annie's in danger. But this gets us nowhere!-- He snorted, stamping his forefoot on the ground for emphasis. --You called for my aid, and I have answered. I cannot break that now, nor would I wish to. The problem is, I don't see where we _can_ help. They could be treelengths away by now, or farther. If you're intent to continue on like this, then why don't you suggest what we are to do?--

Nasa paused for a moment before raising her head again. --We find her, that's what we do.--

Will groaned softly.

- - -

By now Annie was sick of the canoe. She was sick of this forest. And she wanted nothing more than to go home.

Rosaline was a horrible conversationalist, on top of being a murderer. As they went along, the facts had slowly sunk in, and Annie had begun to realize that everything had indeed happened. It struck her as odd that so much could happen in so short a time and then so little happen afterwards. Here she was, in the same boat as a killer, and all she could think of was that she was cold and hungry.

Her captor went on rowing, paying Annie no attention at all. It struck the girl that she was being very trusting; Annie was not tied up nor restrained in any way. Then again, Rosaline was behind her in the canoe, likely watching her every move. With a sigh, Annie trailed her hand in the water, looking up at the cloudless sky.

_When does this forest end?_ she wondered to herself, thoroughly bored out of her mind. There was no other scenery she had not seen yet; just trees, trees and more trees on either side, with a side order of water, dirt and branches. Not much grass was in view, actually.

If she had her dex with her still, she could be playing games or surfing on the net provided that this place was enabled for it. No such luck; the thing had been left behind when she and Rosaline made the mad dash for the river, leaving her to entertain herself by trying to see if she could find cloud pictures... but there weren't any clouds, either. There was nothing at all to do, and Rosaline wouldn't talk to her.

Naturally, she took the only option left to her: she began to sing. 


End file.
